Separation and purification of hydrocarbons



Oct.l 31, 1944. J, A. PATTEsoN SEPARATION AND PURIFICATION OF HYDROCARBONS Filed Feb. 3. 1945 Lw Yvokm. nunk Il' Ilm.

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2 Sheets-Sheet 1 NIHNDN J, A. PATTERSON SEPARATION AND PQRIFICATION OF HYDROCARBONS Oct. 3l, 1944.

2 Sheetsf-Sheet 2 Filed Feb. 3. 1943 SIE,

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Patented fOct. 3i, 1.944

ulxlrrlazli STATES .PATENT oFFicE SEPARATION AND PURIFICATION F HYDROCARBON S John A. Patterson, Westfield, N. J., assigner to Standard Oil Develop v ration of Delaware ment Company, a corpo- Application February 3, 1943, Serial No. 474,497 9 claims. `(ci. 2oz-"42) This invention relates to the'treatment of mixturesof hydrocarbons of the Ca to Ca range, to effect the segregation and purification of paraiiins, mono-oleiins and diolens. The invention relates particularly to the separation of at least two hydrocarbons of closely related properties from their admixture with other hydrocarbons.

Present day developments in the art of preparing synthetic materialsffrom hydrocarbons have singled out the C4 and C5 unsaturated hydrocarbons as being particularly important basic materials. From these simple hydrocarbons,

l synthetic rubber is at present being prepared by polymerization processes. The separation of these compounds is, as a result, highly important. The compounds, although of wide occurrence, are present onlyin relatively small concentrations in easily available stocks, such as in the products of the thermal decomposition of petroleum fractions. Moreover, the problem of separating the individual compounds from their It has now .been found that two or more closely related constituents can be obtainedin high purity from complex hydrocarbon mixtures by a unique combination of at least four processing steps. In such processing, the iirst and fourth steps involve careful fractional distillation, while the intermediate steps involve an extractiva distillation, followed by amazeotropic distillation.

` Thus, processing according to the invention is admixture rwith other hydrocarbons is clearly beset with many dimculties because of their closelyrelated properties. Thus, for hydrocarbons con ining 5 carbon atoms in the molecule, the boiling points at 760 mm. and the relative volatilities (a) (isoprene as one) which are a direct measure of the ease of separation in a disn tillation system, are as follows:

S-methyl butene-l-. Pentene-l Isoprene Trans-pentene-2 n-Pentane Gis-pentene-Z 2-methyl butene2. Cyclopentadiene. Trans-piperylene- Cyelopentene. Cyclopentane It is to be noted that the boiling 4points andthe relative volatilities of the various C.; compounds do not follow the degree of chemical unsaturation of the compounds;v Uponfthe basis of normal vapor pressure therefore, extremely expensive equipment would be required to eiect the sepaadvantageous even in the laboratory.

the combination of (l) Fractional distillation of a suitable feed stock;

(2)` Concentration'of the desired constituents by an extractlve distillation upon a selected fraction; then (3) Separation by azeotropic distillation of the desired hydrocarbons in high concentration; and

(4) The purification of the desired hydrocarbons by fractional distillation.

The process' of the invention resides not only in the combination of two fractional distillations I with the extractive distillation and azeotropic distillation, but also clearly in the manner of `combination. It is essential to achieve the desirable fractions in the first, second .and third steps of the processing in order that the final step of fractional distillation maybe effective.

It is usual also in commercial practiceto employ an additional general step, namely, the recovery of the various solvent liquids employed in the extractive distillation and azeotropic distillation, respectively. Such recovery processing is, however, residual rather than an essential 'feature of the processing according to the invention.

In order to give a better understanding of thel invention, analysis of the processing in' each of the essential steps ispresented. In fractional distillation, separation of the constituents of a. mixtureis' made upon the basis of diierences, at

varying temperatureabf the apor pressures of` the various compounds when in admixture one with the other. In extractive distillation and azeotropic distillation on the other hand, separation of the constituents in the mixture is based on the differences at different temperatures of thevapor pressures of selected groups of compounds in the presence of -.certain type liquids Vadded to a fractional distillation system. y

`The lpresence of suitable liquids in' extractiva A distillation and azeotropic distinction effects in different degrees positive deviationsfrom Raoults law: that is, the volatilities of the various com.- pounds are greater in the presence ofthe added liquid than would be expected upon the basis of their normal vapor pressures. Thus, in the case of a hydrocarbon mixture containing paraiiins, mono-olefins and dioieiins, the added liquid mod- :It is such an eiect fore the normally liquid polar tive distillation upon a narrow-boiling fraction with a, polar type solvent, the parailins will be the most volatile constituents; the mono-olefins less volatile; and the diolefins the least volatile. Thus, the following table indicates the relative volatility values of four Cs hydrocarbons in the presence and absence of aqueous acetone:

A with evtl; No solvurnes of em solvent isoprene r 1.00 1.00 n-Pentancv 0. 92 1. 43 Pentene-2 (trans) 0. 92 1. 30 Cyclopentene 0. 71 0. 95

under suitable conditions of pressure and concentration of the added liquid that contributes to the formation of azeotropic compositions.

In extractive distillation as distinct from azeotropic distillation, the -added liquid is employed in substantially greater amounts, in order to exert the maximum effect upon the diierent groups of compounds. The amount of added liquid employed in an extractive distillation is' greatly in excess of that which would form azeotropic mixtures inthe system. Thus, the addition of an extraneous liquid in extractive lated to, but very distinct from. the addition of a definite amount of the added liquid in an azeotropic distillation system.

Liquids suitable in extractiva distillation are in general the stable organic liquids of high dielectr-ic constant. The suitable materials are thereorganic compounds containing oxygen, nitrogen, sulfur and-related elements. 'Suitable liquids also have the following characteristics:

(1) High sciubuity for the' hydrocarbons; (2) Marked iIect on the relative volatility;

(3) Readily separable from the hydrocarbons byv distillation or when azeotropes are Aformed bysolvent extraction or other means;

(4) Sulicient volatility to permit stripping without requiring the use of high temperatures; (5) Comparative stability when heated in the presence of hydrocarbons; and (6) Commercial `availability and. non-corrosiveness.

In the case of the separation of the Cs hydrocarbons from their admixture with other hydrocarbons, acetone, furfural pyridine, the amines and their admixtures with Vwater have been .found to be particularly advantageous.

In the case of azeotropic distillation, the same type of liquids are suitable as solvents. In addition, however, the liquids should have the following characteristics:

Suitable liquids therefore for aaeotropic distilladistillation is re' tion are the saturated ketones, the amines, the alcohols and their admixture with water.

In the separation of isoprene and trans-piperylene from a refinery cracked stock, the iirst step involves the careful fractionation in a multiplate distillation equipment of a C5 hydrocarbon fraction containing substantial amounts of these hydrocarbons; and rejecting as much as possible of the cyclopentene, cyclopentene and higher hydrocarbons. A suitable feed stock for isoprene and trans-piperylene is distillate from the high temperature cracking of gas oil, virgin naphtha, kerosene and/or other suitable feed stocks.A Atypical debutanized stock from this source may contain about '7% isoprene and trans-piperylene.

' A distillate of this material is first fractionated in a multi-plate distillation tower, so as to derive 40 olensfof Csmolecular content. The distillation therefrom as overhead material, a relatively closeboiling Cs fraction containing the isoprene and the piperylenes together with other dioleilns, monooleiins and paraiiins; and, as a distillation residue, hydrocarbons o f higher boiling points of Cs to C9 molecular content. In the iirst fractional distillation, separation as` far as consistent with the feed supply is thus made of the distillate containing a highl content of isoprene and transpiperylene from the higher boiling C5 hydrocarbons and hydrocarbons of CsA-molecular content in the distillation residue. The closer boiling overhead fraction isthen subjected to an extractive distillation. When aqueous acetone is employed as the solvent, the amount used is generally about twice drocarbon mixture flowing down through thev tower. In the case of furfural on the other hand, the ratio is often as high as '7. In this extractive distillation, a vapor overhead product is taken which consists essentially of parailins and monoresidue'is also controlled, so that the residue consists essentially of solvent suitable for recycling to the tower so as to maintain as high a solventto-hydrocarbon ratio -from the system is the material suitably termed .prene and of cyclopentadiene and any higher boiling mateas erocessing. The most important fraction removed the side stream prod- This side stream product consists ofisotrans-piperylene with such quantities rials' as were present in the feed, and also traces of liquid 'polymer product as have been formed during the extractive distillation operation." Both the overhead and side stream distillate fractions may contain substantial quantities of the added A liquid as the result of the formation of azeotropic i l E Y 'The side stream-product from the extractive Y distillation is then passed to an azeotropic distities of cyclopentane as have been carriedl tillation system. The system is controlled so as to insure an overhead product consisting essentially of an azeotropic mixture of isoprene and solvent, and-to obtain a side stream product consisting essentially of an azeotropic mixture of trans-piperylene, and as a distillation residue, excess solvent and small quantities of higher boiling hydrocarbons. The overhead product contains in addition to the isoprene azeotrope essentially all of the cyelopentadlene and: the cyclopentene presentin the feed. The 'sidestream product, on-the other hand, contains, in addition to the trans-piperylene azeotrope, such quanthrough the system from the feed. f The presence of the cyclic compounds inthe .side stream from the refinery by-product l the' volume of the liquid hyl is advantageous for the intermediate distillate v streams.

the extractive distillation makes it extremely difilcult to obtain relatively pure isoprene and trans` piperylene from a complex hydrocarbon mixture by the combination of fractional distillation and extractive distillation.

'I'he overhead and side stream products are then separately treated so as to remove the solvent. When aqueous acetone is employed as the solvent, -these distillate materials are usually, l

countercurrently treated with water to remove the acetone and thus to permit the two hydrocarbons to be separated therefrom as separate The isoprene and trans-piperylene, after separation of the aqueous liquid, are then fractionally distilled undertcarefully controlled conditions, so as to obtain as overhead 'products the respective hydrocarbons in substantial l purity.

Since some polymerization, particularly Aof cyclopentadiene, normally occurs during the processing, high boiling polymeric materials are normally present in the solvent recycle. The polymerization reactions occurring within the system are of two kinds, namely, the formation of dimer and trimer polymers and theformation of high molecular weight 'semi-solids by coinplex polymerizing reactions. 'I'he former reaction cannot besuitably inhibited or controlled,

, invention is clearly brought out by the following arrangement of compounds according to the relative volatility values, a (isoprene as 1) of the various hydrocarbons normally present in a complex mixture of the Cia-hydrocarbons in normal extractive and azeotropic distillation systems:

cinc example of a typical debutanized distilla stream has the following compositionz Butenes s-.. v.. 0.5 3-methyl butene-1 0.5 Pentene-l 9.4 2-methyl butene-l e 2.0 Isoprene 4.1 Trans-pentene-2 1.0 N-pentane 0.8 Cis-pentene-2 1.0 2methyl butene-Z 2.2 Cyclopentadiene 1.3 Trans-piperylene 2.7 Cis-piperylene 0.2 y Cyclopentene 2.1 Cyclopentane 0.1 C@ parailins and olefins 11.7 Benzene 11.' 1 C7 Ca 9.8 v

plate construction containing bubble cap plates.

In normal operation of processing according to the invention, about 50 plates are present in such' a tower. The tower is shown as being complete with an overhead vapor line i2, a condenser I3, a drum I0, a reiiux line I5. a bottoms line I0, a reboiler I8 and a reboiler vapor line I9. The distillate product is withdrawn from the distillation system through line 2| and the bottoms product from the system through line I'I. The pressure upon the system for the treatment of the'specliiccomposition given is maintained at about 25 lbs. pressure per squareinch (gauge), in order `to allow the employment of ordinary Water for cool'- Extractive distiuation with y Fractional distillatlon aqueous acetone Azeotropic distillflon 3metl1ylbuteue-l. 1.12 3-rnethyl butene-l 1.59 Pentene-l 1.06 Pentene-l 1.53 2-methy1 butene-l l. 03 2-methyl butene-l. l. 49 n-Pentaue 1.43 Trans-pentene-2 1. 30 Gis-peuteuc-Z. 1. 28 2methylbutene2 1.26 isoprene 1.00 isoprene 1.00 Isoprene Trans-pentene-2- 0. 93 Cyclopentane 0. 97 Cyclopentadiene nentane- 0.92 `Cyclopentene .95 Cyclopeptene Cispentene2 0.9i Cyclopentadiene 82 Trans-piperylenc 2-methyl butene-Z.. 0.88 Trans-piperylene 0. 77 Cisp1perylene Cyclopentadiene 0.83 Cis-piperylene 0.75 Gyclopentane Trans-piperylene 0. 77 C1s-piperylene- 0. 75 Cyclopentene... 0.73 Cyelopentane 0.69

In order to illustrate the invention more clearly, ing purposes in the condenser I3. The degree o f the following detailed descriptionof processing separation in tower I0 is controlled by the heat is presented. The; reference` numerals given in I" supply from .the reboiler I8 and the ratio of reflux the description refer to the accompanying drawsupplied through line I5. The percentage of feed ings, Figs. 1 and 1a, respectively. In these drawtaken ,as product through line 2| is adjusted so ings. a Suitable lay-01111 0f equipment and indias to remove the major Vportion ofthe isoprene cation of a suitable ow of mater1als for procand trans-piperylenein thisfraction, while ref,- essing according to the invention are presented. 0 jecting in the residue higher boiling hydrocarl,

bons ofthe Cs to Ca range. In the example used for illustration a reflux ratio of 3 is maintained,l

while taking off approximately 26% 'of the feed' asvdistillate material. Under these conditions the temperature at the top of the tower is 'usually In the diagram, equipment equipment ,'tillate is withdrawnV from drum Cyclopentene about 140 F., whilethe temperature at the exit of line 16 is about 275 F.

The overhead product removed through line I2 consists of a narrow C fraction containing the majority of the isoprene and piperylene in feed mixture. The entire distillate is condensed in I3 and passed to the drum Il. From the drum Il a quantity of reux is passed through line I5 in order to maintain the desired operating feed stock of the speoiiic illustration, the composition of the distillate material under the particular operating conditions given shows `the iollowing analysis: C4 E' .1.9 vS-methyl butene-l 1.9 Pentene-l 35.9 2-methyl butene-1 '1.6 'Isoprene A 15.7 Trans-pentene-2 3.8 n-Pentane 3.1 Cis-pentene-2 v f. 3.8 Z-methyl butene-2 8.0 Cyclopentadiene 4.6 'Trans-piperylene 9.5

The residual material, consistinglargely of cy- Cis-piperylene ciopentane, some pentenes and higher boiling hydrocarbons is withdrawn through line I6. A portion of the residue is passed through thereboiler I8 where it is vaporized morder to supply the heat necessary in order to operate the tower, the

vapor being returned to the tower I0 through line I3'. The remainder of the higher boiling material .is removed from the system through line I1.

The 4overhead fraction from towerl I0 as removed through line 2I is passed to the fractionating ltower 20. The tower 20 is similar in design to tower I0 and may be any type of suitable fractionating equipment, preferably a bubble plate tower containing 60 plates. It is furnished with an overhead vapor line 22, acondenser 23, a drum 24,'a reiiux line 25. a bottoms'line 26, a reboiler 28 and a reboiler vapor line 29. 'I'he tower also has a solvent recycle line 21, a side stream vapor line 3I and a side stream return line 31. The distillate product is withdrawn through line 1I and combined with 4a. portion of the solvent withdrawn from line 21 through line 16 and .conducted to a tower 13. A portion of the recycled solvent from thebottom of the tower 20 which is withdrawn from line 21 through line 16 is made in order to remove some of the high boiling polymeric materials formed' during processing from the less stable unsaturated hydrocarbons of. the feed stock and thus to maintain thecontent of high boiling mal teriais in the solvent recycle at a low value.

In the tower 10 the combined stream, after cooling in equipment 14, is countercurrently treated with water for recovery o the acetone. The tower 10 may be any suitable type of liquid-liquid contacting device in which `countercurrent now of materials may be maintained. In the present case the tower is packed with Raschig rings and sufilcient pressure is maintained in the tower to prevent vaporization of any of the materials passing through the tower. The composite solution, ad-

mitted through line 1 I is introduced into the tower 10 near the bottom and-passes upwards to the tower countercurrently to\a stream of water introduced near the top through line 13. In passging through the tower, the solvent Iis extracted from the hydrocarbon material.`

5 Any polymers or other high boiling material in solution in the recycled solvent which is combined with the distillate from tower are extracted by the hydrocarbons of the distillate material. The hydrocarbons freefof solvent are removed 10' through line 15 at the' top of the tower and disof the contactingdevices in the, extracting tower 10. For the specific composition ofthis illustration, a volume ratio of water to combined solution of approximately l is maintained. y The bottoms'productirom tower -20 is withdrawn through line 21 and recycled to thetower. Pressure upon the system is maintained at about 25 lbs. per square inch (gauge) in order to have a workable condensing temperature similar to that in connection with fractionating equipment Ill. The overhead distillate vapor removedv from line -22 -consists of azeotropic mixtures of Ca oleiins and paramns when aqueous acetone is employed as the solvent material admitted through line 29. '1"he vapors are condensed in equipment 23 and passed to the drum 24. A portionof the condensate is returned through line 25 as reflux while the remainder is withdrawn through line 1I and through cooler 1I to the tower 10. The quantity v throughline 21 to the distillation system is', for the particular composition of feed stock given, in `the ratio of lsolvent to hydrocarbon mixture of 3 to 1 from the point of introduction to the plate upon which the side stream .is withdrawn. Below the plate from which the side vstream product is `'withdrawn the solvent is stripped of its hydrocarbon content. The bottoms withdrawn through line 26'consists of relatively pure sol' vent. A portion of the bottoms liquid is passed through the reboiler 28 where it is vaporized, the vapor being returned to tower 2l through the val por line 29 to supply the heat necessary to operate the tower. The remainder of the solvent, l except for the small portion withdrawn for purication, is conducted through cooler l1 on line 21 to the upper portion of the tower. Thus,

tio of solvent to hydrocarbonliquid on the plates and the ratio of liquid to vapor ilowing through the tower. The ratioof solvent to hydrocarbon is controlled by the rate of solvent recirculation. :The ratioof liquid to vapor in the zone of high solvent to hydrocarbon ratio,'that is, between the solvent inlet and side stream outlet, is controlled by the reflux returned through line 2E from drum 2l. Due to considerable1 dilerence in solvent concentration between the top of the tower and the extractive distillation zone and the difference in latent heat of of aqueous acetone recycled the constituents, the

redux ratio and consequently the ratio of liquid to vapor at the top of the tower, must be tion operation, as well as to concentrate the hyis equipped with overhead vapor line 42, condenser 43, drum 44, reflux line 45 and a bot- I t'oms withdrawal line 46. The equipment is also drocarbon fractions and to strip the solvent, is

supplied completely from the reboiler 28. In this manner, considerable heat economy is effected, since the heat to operate the extractive distillation tower issupplied by condensation of the solvent at the top of the solvent stripping section ofthe tower. If this were not done, a condenser wouldvhave to be provided for the solvent stripper in order to supply the reflux necessary for operation and additional heat would be required to operate the extractive distillation system. Moreover, by maintaining the proper adjustment of the amounts of the vapor removed through line 3|, and consequently the amount of liquid returned through line 31, adequate reflux is obtained in the bottoms stripping section of the tower 20, thus insuring complete stripping of the solvent. In the same way, the condensation needed to produce the required reflux in the extractivedistillation zone is obtained by supplying the heat required to concentrate the parailins and mono-olens at the top of the tower 20.

The vapor side stream removed through line 3I contains a high concentration of isoprene and trans-piperylene with. small amounts of olefins and other diolens in the presence of solvent in an amount in equilibrium with 75% molar concentration of solvent on the plates of the extractive distillation tower 20. The volume of solvent is about 50% of the vapor mixture. This side stream material withdrawn through line 3I is conducted to the distillation tower 30'. The tower 3U may be any suitable fractionating device such as a tower provided with bubble cap plates as previously described in connection with tower 20.

The tower is provided with an overhead vapor line 32, a condenser 33, a drum 34, a reflux line 35, a bottoms line 36, a reboiler 38, a reboiler vapor line 36, a bottoms Withdrawal line 31, a side stream vapor line 4I and a side stream return line 46 in addition to the vapor inlet line 3 I y The overhead distillate removed through line 32 consists essentially of the azebtropic-mixture of isoprene, acetone and water. This overhead distillate also contains lesser amounts of the azeotropic compositions of cyclo-pentadiene andcyclo-pentene with water and acetone: the amounts of cyclo-pentadiene and cyclo-pentene being in such quantities as were notrejected in equipment I 6. The vapor is condensed in equipment 33 and conducted to the drum 34. A portion of the condensate is returned to the tower' 30 through line as reflux, while the remainder is withdrawn through line 5I to water scrubbing tower 50. As a side stream product removed through furnished with a product withdrawal line 6I in addition to the vapor feed line 4I. Heat is supplied to the tower 40 by means of the vapor feed entering through line 4 I The distillate vapor withdrawn from tower40 through line 42 is condensed in equipment 43 and collected in drum 44. A portion of the condensate is returned as reflux through line 45 while-the remainder is withdrawn through lie 6I to a `tower 60 for removal of the acetone. The

bottomsiconsisting of acetone and water and containing some piperylene and other hydrocarbons from the feed, are withdrawn through line 46 and returnedto \the tower 30 for recovery of the solvent. The tower is a liquid-liquid contacting device similar to tower 10, in which the hydrocarbon is countercurrently treated with water admitted near the top of the tower through line 63 for vthe removal of acetone. The solventfree hydrocarbon is withdrawn fromv the top of the tower and conducted through line 9i to the tower 96. The dilute solution of acetone -in water is removed from the bottom of the tower. l through line 62 and combined with similar solutions from towers 66 and 10.

The reflux ratio used in the tower 30 is adjusted so as to obtain an overhead product-consisting of the azeotropic mixture of isoprene, acetone and water with the cyclopentene and cyclopentadiene which were present in the feed to" tower 30. The side stream product consists of transpiperylene, acetone and water in addition to higher boiling hydrocarbon materials. Thus, the reflux ration in the tower 36 is determined by the nature of the specific operating requirements. In the example of this illustration, a refiux ratio of 10 is maintained at the top of the tower 30 in order to supply adequate reflux for the bottom solvent stripping section of thel tower- 20. 1

In the operation of the system comprising towers 20, 30 and 40 and their auxiliaries, separation into zones is clearly defined by the various temperature ranges. Thus, the vapor leaving the top of the tower 20 is about 140 F. The temperature rises sharply to about 155 F. between -the top of the tower and the plate on which the solvent is admitted through line 21, then rises very slowly to 160 F. on the plate where the side stream is withdrawn through line 3 I. Below the plate from which the side stream is withdrawn, as a result of the concentration of the aqueous acetone, the temperature rises sharply to 208 F.

` vprevailing at the bottom of the tower'. The temline 4I, a mixture consisting essentially of transpiperylene, acetone and water is separated from the system and passed to tower 40.

The tower 40 is any formof equipment suitable for fractional distillation, such as a bubble plate tower. In the case of the illustration, the tower 40 contains about 10 bubble cap plates. It

perature at the top of the tower 30 is about 147 F. In the tower 30 above the point of introduction of the vapor stream through line 3| the temperature drops rapidly from about 160 F. to about F. due to theconcentration of the azeotropic mixture of isoprene, acetone and water. Between this point and that of the withdrawal of the side stream through line 4I, the

temperature rises to about F. Below this 5 latter point the temperature'again rises due to the concentration of the solvent to about 200 F.

In the tower 40 the temperature gradient is of the same general character as that occurring in the concentrating section of the tower` 30.

The isoprene-acetone-water .azeotropic mixture removed as distillate from the tower 30 through line 5I is conducted to waterscrubbing equipment 50. Equipment 50 may be any suit- Y as distillate material a narrow-boiling fraction containing the desired hydrocarbons, subjecting the resultant distillate fraction to an extractive distillation to separate therefrom al distillate material containing the desired hydrocarbons in high concentration, then subjecting the said distillate material to an azeotropic distillation to separate the desired hydrocarbons and fractionally distilling the resultant distillate product.

2. The process according to claim 1, in which the feed stock is a debutanized refinery cracked y stock and the said several distillation steps are made thereon to separate C dioleiln hydrocarbons.

3. The process for separating at least two Cs unsaturated hydrocarbons of closely related properties from a renery cracked stock containing the unsaturated hydrocarbons in less than .concentratiom which comprises fractionally distilling the said stock to separate a distillate fraction containing the Cs unsaturated hydrocarbons in higher concentration, subjecting said distillate fraction to an extractiva distillation in the presence of a solvent having a substantial eect upon the relative volatilities of hydrocarbons to separate therefrom a distillate material containing the desired C5 unsaturated hydrocarbons in high concentration, then subjecting the said distillate material to an azeotropic distillation to separate the desired hydrocarbons and then fractionally distilling the resultant distillafe products to purify the individual unsaturated hydrocarbons.

4. `The process according to claim 3 in which the solvent employed in the extractive and azeotropic distillations comprises acetone.

5. The process according to claim 3 in which the solvent employed in the extractive distillation comprises acetone and the solvent employed in the azeotropic distillation comprises Aa monohydric alcohol.

6. 'Ihe process for separating isoprene and trans-piperylene from a debutanized reiinery cracked stock of about 5 to 10% isoprene and and trans-piperylene in high concentration, then subjecting the said distillate material to an azeotropic distillation to vseparate as overhead an azeotrope containing isoprene, and as a side stream a distillate product consisting essentially of an azeotroper containing trans-pipery lene and fractionally distilling the respective fractions to separate the isoprene and transpiperylene.

7. The process'according to claim 6, in-Which the solvent employed in the extractive and azeotropic distillations comprises acetone.

8. The process according to claim 6, in which the solvent employed in the extractive and azeotropic distillations is aqueous acetone.

9. 'Ihe process according to claim 6, in which the solvent employed in the extractive distillation comprises pyridine and the solvent employed in the azeotropic distillation is an alcohol.

JOHN A. PATTmSON. 

